Quake Shutters Honda, Toshiba Plants; Damages Nissan Cars

March 12 (Bloomberg) -- The earthquake that struck
northeastern Japan yesterday damaged and shut down operations of
some of the nation’s largest manufacturers, including Nissan
Motor Co. and Toshiba Corp.

Nissan, the second-largest Japanese carmaker, said 2,300
new vehicles were damaged by tsunami surges yesterday in the
wake of an 8.9-magnitude earthquake, the strongest ever recorded
in Japan. Toshiba reported closure of a plant that makes sensors
for the cameras in its mobile phones.

At least 500 people died and hundreds more remain missing
after the waves smashed ports, buildings and cars and stranded
thousands without food, water or electricity as temperatures in
the worst-hit region near Sendai city plunged as low as minus
2.5 degrees Celsius (27.5 degrees Fahrenheit).

Nissan said four factories and two offices suffered minor
damage and the automaker hasn’t been able to contact some of its
dealers in northern Japan. Some 1,300 vehicles, mostly Infiniti
models, awaiting export to the U.S. at Hitachi port north of
Tokyo, were damaged, said Sadayuki Hamaguchi, a Nissan
spokesman. About 1,000 others at a service center further north
in Miyagi prefecture were also damaged.

Toyota Motor Corp. will suspend production at all 12 of its
factories in Japan as well as its body makers on March 14,
spokeswoman Shiori Hashimoto said in a phone interview today.
The company wants to confirm the safety of all its employees
before it starts production, and will decide on March 14 if it
will start operations the following day, she said.

Honda Motor Co. said it will stop production at factories
in Sayama, Mouka, Hamamatsu and Suzuka.

Kirin, Sapporo

Beer vats were smashed and products washed away at the
Sendai plant of Kirin Holdings Co., Japan’s second-biggest
brewer. Kirin hasn’t been able to confirm the safety of more
than 10 sales staff in the city, spokesman Jun Sato said by e-mail today.

Workers at the Sendai plant evacuated to the rooftop to
avoid danger, and Kirin’s Toride plant halted operations because
of damage, Sato said.

Sapporo Shutdown

Sapporo Holdings Ltd. shut down three plants to inspect
equipment after the earthquake, spokesman Yuki Hattori said by
e-mail today. The brewer’s Sendai plant suffered some damage and
many bottles were broken, he said. Sapporo’s Chiba plant was
also affected, and its Nasu facility is closed for equipment
inspections, Hattori said.

Toshiba Corp. shut down a plant and evacuated employees in
the northern prefecture of Iwate. No damage was reported at the
Iwate Toshiba Electronics Co. plant, which produces logic chips
and CMOS image sensors for mobile-phone cameras, Keisuke Ohmori,
a company spokesman, said today by telephone.

Elpida Memory Inc. Japan’s largest memory-chip maker,
didn’t have any serious problems from yesterday’s earthquake and
is checking availability of materials, Chief Executive Officer
Yukio Sakamoto wrote in an email early today, responding to
Bloomberg News queries.

NTT DoCoMo Inc., Japan’s largest mobile-phone operator, is
restricting as much as 80 percent of voice traffic in northern
Japan, according to a faxed statement.

Smaller Softbank Corp. imposed restrictions to avoid
congestion at 8 a.m. today and has no timeframe for a return to
normal service, spokesman Takeaki Nukii said.

Serious damage to the container of the No. 1 reactor at the
Kukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant is believed to be
unlikely, Kyodo News reported, citing unidentified nuclear
safety agency officials.